Backups, protests expected for Bush's visit to Bellevue

For the fourth time in four years, President Bush will swoop into the well-heeled Eastside to raise money. Monday's appearance in downtown Bellevue will include several street and freeway closures, colorful protests and at least $250,000 raised for Republican U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert and the state Republican Party.

Bush is scheduled to land at Sea-Tac International Airport in midafternoon, after attending a similar fundraiser for Sen. Pete Domenici in New Mexico. He'll give a local volunteering award at the airport before his motorcade heads north to Bellevue.

Federal and local officials would not disclose the president's route for security reasons, but Bellevue police said Interstate 405 would likely be affected. I-405 would be the quickest route to Bellevue from the airport.

Wherever Bush's motorcade goes, traffic will be cleared and rush-hour commuters will have to wait until he passes. Bellevue officials said they expect severe afternoon backups because of the motorcade and the large protests expected downtown.

Bush is set to arrive at the fundraiser at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue at 4:25 p.m. and return to the airport in time to fly out by early evening.

About a dozen anti-war groups plan to congregate downtown, with signs reading "Bush, You're Fired," and protesters dressed in orange Guantánamo Bay jumpsuits and giant papier-mâché heads resembling President Bush and Vice President Cheney, according to organizers.

A similar protest along the president's motorcade route when he visited Medina last summer attracted about 90 people. But organizers say people are angrier now about the Bush administration, and as many as 1,000 protesters could show up.

The latest Gallup Poll has Bush's approval rating at 32 percent. According to protest organizers, the firing of several U.S. attorneys and the government's views on civil rights are among the divisive issues.

"In the last six months, public sentiment has really turned," said Linda Boyd, director of Washington for Impeachment, a local group that seeks the ouster of the president. "People are angry with Congress. People are angry with Bush."

The protesters will hold a rally at 12:30 p.m. at the Bradford Center, 700 108th Ave. N.E. At 2 p.m. they will walk two blocks to Northeast Eighth Street and Bellevue Way, just outside the Hyatt.

At the hotel, Bush will pose for photos with a group of supporters who have paid $10,000 for the privilege, and then he will speak to a much-larger crowd, most of whom will have paid $1,000 to get in.

It's unclear what the president will talk about, but at last year's Reichert fundraiser in Medina, he gave a 45-minute speech that touched on Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and the Iraq war.

The 2006 event attracted about 400 people and raised $800,000 for Reichert's campaign and the state party, but this year's reception is not expected to be nearly as lucrative. The event is on a Monday afternoon in late summer, when many big donors are busy or out of town, and more than a year before the next federal election.

"August in an off year is certainly not the best time," said former state Republican Party Chairman Chris Vance.

But presidents often make cross-country trips in downtime, when Congress isn't in session, and campaigns have to roll with it, Vance said. "You take what you can get."

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com